City's De Bruyne hails coach Guardiola for flying start to EPL season

Belgium forward Kevin De Bruyne lavished praise on his football club Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, saying the high-profile coachs arrival has offered City a "new beginning" and led to their flying start in the English Premier League (EPL).

The Belgium playmaker opened the scoring in Saturday's 2-1 Manchester derby win over United at Old Trafford, which saw City maintain their perfect start to the EPL campaign, according to a report in goal.com.

De Bruyne, who enjoyed a fine first season at the Etihad Stadium in 2015-16, feels the impact of Guardiola has given his team a lift.

"I think the way we try to play now is very enjoyable, especially for the attacking players, because we try to play nice football, the way we want to play," he said.

"I think maybe for some guys it's a new beginning. We have got to go a little bit away from the physical game in the Premier League, because we are not as strong as other teams.

"We know that, so we try to dominate them with the way we want to play."

De Bruyne has a goal and two assists in the league this season and is enjoying his role under Guardiola.

The 25-year-old urged his team-mates to keep producing, having been impressed by their ability to adapt to the Spanish manager.

"Football isn't easy. Obviously everybody has his own style and you need to adapt to it, but I think everyone is working really hard - even the guys coming in, they do it perfectly," De Bruyne said.

"At the moment it is very positive, so we just have to try to keep it in this flow."

--IANS

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